Raghav slowly walked away from Mrunal's room.
He didn't want her to know that he had heard the conversation.
He returned to the hall and sat quietly on the sofa.
Lakshmi noticed his expression.
“What happened?”
Raghav didn't answer immediately.
He picked up the newspaper, but he couldn't concentrate on a single word.
Lakshmi came closer.
“Raghav?”
He finally looked at her.
“We need to talk.”
Lakshmi sat beside him.
“It is about Mrunal, isn't it?”
Raghav nodded.
“I heard her talking to Vishwak.”
Lakshmi's face became serious.
“What did he say?”
“Not much.”
Raghav paused.
“But sometimes, you don't need to hear everything to understand what is happening.”
Lakshmi remained silent.
Raghav continued.
“She was asking him why he wasn't answering her calls. She asked whether she had done something wrong.”
Lakshmi lowered her eyes.
“Poor girl.”
“I don't understand what happened between them.”
“Maybe they had an argument.”
“No.”
Raghav shook his head.
“This has been going on for months.”
Lakshmi looked at him.
“How do you know?”
“I've been watching her.”
He took a deep breath.
“Whenever Vishwak calls, she becomes happy. Whenever he doesn't call, she becomes quiet. She has been hiding her pain from us.”
Lakshmi's eyes became moist.
“Why didn't she tell us?”
“Because she probably doesn't want us to worry.”
Raghav looked toward Mrunal's room.
“She has always been like that.”
For a few seconds, neither of them spoke.
Then Raghav said,
“I want to talk to our sons.”
Lakshmi immediately looked at him.
“About Vishwak?”
“Yes.”
“They will get angry.”
“I know.”
“They may call Vishwak immediately.”
“That is what I'm afraid of.”
Raghav leaned back.
“If we react emotionally, we could make everything worse.”
Lakshmi nodded slowly.
“Our sons love their sister. If they hear that someone is hurting her, they won't stay quiet.”
“Exactly.”
Raghav looked serious.
“I don't want them to confront Vishwak before we know the complete truth.”
Lakshmi agreed.
“We should understand what is happening first.”
“Yes.”
Raghav thought for a moment.
“But how?”
Lakshmi looked toward Mrunal's room.
“We can ask her.”
Raghav shook his head.
“She isn't ready to tell us.”
“Then who can we ask?”
Raghav remained silent.
Suddenly, a name came to his mind.
“Preethi.”
Lakshmi looked at him.
“Mrunal's friend?”
“Yes.”
“She is very close to Mrunal.”
“Exactly.”
Raghav nodded.
“Sometimes children tell their friends things they don't tell their parents.”
Lakshmi understood.
“Preethi might know what happened.”
“We need to speak to her.”
“But don't tell Mrunal yet.”
“Of course.”
Raghav stood up.
“I don't want Mrunal to feel that we're investigating her life.”
Lakshmi nodded.
“We'll speak to Preethi first. We need to know what has been happening between Mrunal and Vishwak.”
Raghav walked toward the front door.
Lakshmi asked,
“Where are you going?”
“Outside.”
“Now?”
“I need some fresh air.”
He stepped outside.
The evening had become quiet.
Raghav walked toward the gate and stood alone for a while.
He reached into his pocket and took out a cigarette.
He lit it and took a slow drag.
He wasn't thinking about his work.
He wasn't thinking about money.
He wasn't thinking about anything else.
His mind was occupied by only one thing.
His daughter.
He remembered Mrunal as a little girl.
He remembering
The first day she went to school.
The day she received her first prize.
The day she told him that she wanted to become a professor.
The day she got her government job.
The day she told him she wanted to marry Vishwak.
Something had changed.
Raghav took another drag from the cigarette.
His eyes remained fixed on the empty road.
He whispered to himself,
“What happened to you, Vishwak?”
He didn't want to believe that success had changed the man.
But he couldn't ignore what he had seen in his daughter's eyes.
Mrunal was hurting.
And Raghav had no intention of allowing her to suffer alone.
He took out his phone.
He searched for Preethi's number.
His finger stopped over the call button.
He hesitated.
If Preethi knew something...
then perhaps the truth would finally begin to come out.
Raghav pressed Call.
The phone started ringing.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Then someone answered.
“Hello?”
Raghav took a deep breath.
“Preethi... this is Raghav.”
There was a brief silence on the other side.
“Uncle? Is everything okay?”
Raghav looked back toward the house.
His eyes fell on the window of Mrunal's room.
“No, Preethi.”
His voice became heavy.
“I don't think everything is okay.”
He paused.
“I need to talk to you about Mrunal.
Next Episode : What Mrunal friend Preeti is going to do ? Will she get detailed information about Mrunal married life?